This blog is my look at movies, pop culture and entertainment. It’s a blog by the people that speaks for the people who love entertainment. I love to write and to share my opinion. Hope you enjoy what I have to say.

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Q&A with Michael Connelly

I sat with best selling author Michael Connelly to discuss his book The Lincoln Lawyer, his involvement in the movie, and his writing process.

How much of what we see in the Lincoln Lawyer was based on your time following the crime beat in Los Angeles?

Not a lot. I haven’t been a reporter going on 15 years now. In the book the trial takes place in the Van Nuys Courthouse which is kind of suburban courthouse in LA. I covered that courthouse when I was a reporter for a couple years. I drew upon my physical knowledge of that courthouse, some things I knew about judges, the way I saw judges act, and the way I saw bailiffs act.

This idea of this lawyer working out of his car came from when I met a lawyer who did that. By then I was out of journalism and was writing novels. I was always looking for something that was going to inspire a new story. Once I met him and saw how he worked out of his car I thought that would be a great character and a great idea for a story.

How did you come up with the story?

It came together one afternoon. It was opening day at Dodger’s baseball , I went with a group of guys and I sat next to a guy who told me he was a lawyer. I asked him where his office is and he said, “Actually it’s my car” and we went from there. He worked out of his car not because he was a failure, but a place like Los Angeles where there are so many courthouses this would be the best way to do that job. There are only so many permutations you can do in the legal field, so you’re always looking for a new character in an old story. That really struck me all at once.

How did you come up with the character Louis Roulet?

There’s a point in the movie where Mickey is exhausted drunk and he rolls over to his ex wife and he says he fears “true evil”. It’s the question “Is there evil out there.” It’s a recurring theme in a lot of my books. I was trying to build a character that carries that question. Look at the crimes the guy commits. Look at his ability to have the façade of the innocent.

To me what’s interesting is the collision between two people who are experienced at gaming the system. Roulet has been operating below the radar of anyone for a long time. You have Mickey who’s been in the trenches of the justice system for so long. He knows all the angles and sees them three steps ahead of anybody else.

It’s not fair to compare McConaughey’s character Mickey to his character Jake in A Time to Kill?

It’s been about 15 years since he did that. [Jake] was full of idealism. The guy that’s presented in The Lincoln Lawyer, in the book and the movie, is a guy where all that’s eroded away. When I first turned the book in the title was Confessions of a Lincoln Lawyer. It was really interesting and in first person. It was really him whispering from the bottom of the trenches “I’ll tell you how it really is”. That’s what attracted me to write that book and explore that character.

When you’re writing a novel, what’s your process like?

To me it’s all about gathering momentum and keeping it. For me, staring a book is really hard. It’s really hard for me to get going. Every day, if you write another page you get some momentum going. To me it’s a slow start into building a gradual momentum. Hopefully soon I’ll be writing every hour of the day that I’m allowed to. The basic process is to start early in the morning while it’s still dark and hopefully go until noon. If I do that I know I’ll move the story a step a day. By the end of the year you should have a book.

How much involvement did you have in the making of The Lincoln Lawyer?

I’m happy to consult and offer opinions. Very often they don’t want you to. They look at it as writing a book is one thing, but telling the story visually is completely different. For this book they went through about 14 screenplays. When it got really close to what they would shoot and McCounaghey came on board I was reading everything then. Clint Eastwood made a movie out of one of my books and he sat me down right at the beginning and said “Look. I’m going to make this movie with my people and my screenwriter. You’re welcome to come and watch us make it anytime you want. I don’t work with a lot of back and forth with the book write. If that’s problem for you, let’s shake hands and go our separate ways”. He was just really upfront about how he works.

What’s up next for you?

I’m getting ready to publish my next book. It’s the same character from the Lincoln Lawyer book and it’s called The Fifth Witness. It’s coming out April 5th. When all the dust settles on that and this movie I’ll get going on my next book.

Is there anything you’ve written that you’d love to see made into a movie?

Well, all of them [laughs]. I’vewritten several about a detective named Harry Botsch. He’s really the guy I’ve been writing and thinking about for 20 years. My next book will be a Harry Botsch book. I’ve had a great gift as a writer to be able to keep writing about this character. He’s near and dear to me. If done right, I’d love to see him realized in film or a television show.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..